2019/06/13
Mauston to Baraboo. A truly perfect day on the bike. Today was a short day with only 73 km (44 miles) of riding. The route was a good combination of hills and flats. I had several plans for activities once I got to Baraboo so I didn’t want to dilly dally along the way. Despite this desire I still ended up making frequent stops to take photos and videos. I couldn’t resist. The first rest stop was Lyndon Station. I decided to pass by without stopping if I was feeling good. I breezed by the rest stop with every intention of stopping at the second rest stop. I got in the zone and didn’t notice the marks for the rest stop. As a result, I pulled into Baraboo shortly after 12 noon.
Perhaps, the highlight of the day was seeing two Sandhill Cranes with two baby cranes in tow. It was the first time for me to see this type of bird. I also spotted what I think were wild turkeys crossing the road. I am not sure because they were so far off in the distance I couldn’t see any details. When I asked some of the local Wisconsin riders they said there were turkeys in Wisconsin. There may have event been fledglings following I though, if not turkeys, perhaps pheasant but now that I consider it some more I might have seen more cranes. In the absence of confirmation I am going with my first guess of wild turkeys.
I saw more cows than any other day but still not as many as I expected. Maybe there are more cows further south.
I feel like I am finally hitting my stride. My knee was hurting on previous days but it has been getting better little by little. Today it just a little uncomfortable. Additionally, I am getting used to the bicycle. While I would not buy this kind of bicycle I am beginning to make it work for me. It certainly has its advantages in some circumstances such as wet pavement, bumpy ro unsaved roads. I can go where the skinny tire gang fear to go. There aren’t too many places like that on this route.
I started out early this morning in order to finish earlier. Despite starting earlier may people passed me up. I don’t mind. It was a good opportunity to take pictures of other riders besides myself. Everyone was so nice as they passed me up. Many people asked me if I was alright even though I though it was obvious that I had just stopped to take a picture. Still, the gesture was appreciated.
Baraboo has a very “Americana” feel to the town. I walked around the downtown area a little bit while looking for a place to eat. All the store front around the square are in that traditional late 1800’s early 1900’s style. Of course, Baraboo is famous for the Ringling Brothers Circus. There is a museum, a theater and, of course, Circus World, a locally running circus. I am in the town square listening to a brass band playing early 20th century marching tunes and eating a bratwurst.
A word about my plans for Baraboo. I had made arrangement weeks in advance to meat an old friend from elementary school. She drove up from Stoughton and we had dinner together. In addition to that, I wanted to interview Rob Layton, the owner/operator of Bike Wisconsin and GRABAAWR for the Pedalshift Project Podcast. Rob is a busy guy but this short day was a good opportunity to talk with him.
My take away from this beautiful day of riding is that no matter what you do, Ride Your Own Ride.
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]]>2019/06/12
Today was a Type II fun day. It rained almost the entire time I was riding. It cleared up for the last 12 miles (25 km) of the ride to just dump down rain when I was less than 10 minutes from the lodging area. On top of all that my Frog Toggs rain gear was a complete failure. It held up for an hour or two but eventually the water started seeping through. By the time I was well into the ride my clothes were soaked. Additionally, the pants ripped wide open at the inseam when they get caught on the seat when I got on the bike. I can’t say that I recommend Frog Toggs rain gear. Sorry Kermit.
Despite the rain I had a great ride. The terrain was very flat. We rode through a mix of farmland and swamps. There was a long section of road that passed through the township of Armenia that was absolutely my favorite. The swamps and forest encroach right onto the road. Other than the road itself and the rare house, there isn’t a single sign of human habitation. I could ride that stretch of road every day and never get tired of it. I wouldn’t stop much though because as soon as you do the mosquitos attack.
In the afternoon I joined up with a retired couple from Rhinelander. They set a nice steady pace that I could keep up with and we cover ground steadily. I didn’t stop to take any pictures in the afternoon but I took plenty of pictures in the morning despite the rain. Waterproof cases for my cameras paid off. My iPhone 8 plus, the iPhone 6 and 5c. Were exposed to the rain for hours and they are all still very functional. Unfortunately, touch screens are very difficult to use when your fingers and the screen get wet. It was almost impossible to unlock my iPhone 8 plus because the fingerprint sensor didn’t recognize my touch as a finger at all. It made it impossible to use the maps. Of course, because of the rain I didn’t want to take out the cue sheets. I should have put them in a zip-lock bag.
I saw very little wildlife. The rain had probably forced them all to take refuge, each according to its species. I saw less roadkill today as well. I wonder if that is an indication that there is less wildlife in the area to tangle with humans or fewer humans. In general, this are seems more populous than farther north so I think the former is more likely. I did rescue a turtle we found on the road. It was a fairly large and heavy critter. About the size of two fists. I picked it up and moved it to the grass on the other side of the road. We assumed it was trying to get to the other side but there is no assurance that that was its actual intentions. No man knows the mind of a turtle.
As I mentioned, the last 25 km the rain stopped. I had almost dried out by the time we rolled into Mauston. We could see some ugly black clouds rolling. We hoped we could reach the lodging before the rain came. Our hopes were dashed to the ground with the rain drops. Just as we passed under an overpass a heavy rain started to come down. The weather went from a few isolated drops of water to deluge in less than a minute. If we had been smart we should have waited out the storm under the overpass but we weren’t. Maybe after riding all morning and most of the afternoon more rain didn’t seem to manner. We forged on. The rain was coming down so heavily we couldn’t clearly see the route marks on the road. The gentleman I was riding with spotted a school zone sign so we turned in that direction but it was the wrong school. Next to the wrong school was the Mauston Police Station. We went in there to ask directions. We weren’t far from our final destination. By the time we had our directions the rain had stopped. The storm came and went all within the space of 10 minutes.
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